Oculus Touch motion controllers delayed to second half of 2016

The Oculus Touch controllers which were to be offered with the virtual reality headset Oculus Rift will finally hit the market in the second half of 2016.

The virtual reality headset Oculus Rift will be available from the beginning of 2016, embodying many years of work to build a commercial version of a long promising laboratory project.

Oculus Touch motion controllers

With the headset, Oculus Touch controllers should be proposed for interacting with the virtual 3D interfaces visible in the VR headsets. These controllers with atypical design handle with a stick and motion sensors helps the user to manipulate virtual objects.

If the controllers were to be launched at the same time as the Oculus headset, now it needs more time to finalize the attachment and that it will not be marketed before the second half of 2016 with a pre-order campaign few months before the launch, while the Oculus Rift headset remains scheduled for the first quarter of 2016.

Oculus announcement will improve the ergonomics of its controllers and add finer consideration of the position of the hand. Pre-production of Oculus Touch units will however be available for developers.

This opens a new window for the competitor HTC Vive headset who despite postponing its launch in April 2016, will offer its own controllers.